Link has a complete 72 hours before the world ends. Before it ends, you must warp back through time. 72 hours equal a total of three days and three nights spread evenly over 12 hours.
Telling Time
On the bottom of the screen is the in-game clock, which shows the Hour and what day it is.
Inside the center of the clock is a diamond. This diamond will either say "1st", "2nd", or "Final" depending on which day it is. The diamond is initially green, indicating that time is flowing normally. Playing the Inverted Song of Time turns the diamond blue, indicating that the flow of time has slowed down to 30% of its normal speed. Rotating around the diamond is a little sun-like icon, representing minutes. The hour changes when the icon makes one full clockwise rotation around the diamond. Incidentally, one game hour is forty-five real-life seconds when time is flowing normally. Surrounding the day and minute indicator is the hour indicator, represented by a semi-circle. There is a number that shows the hour, and an icon that represents the time of day. A sun icon means it is daylight, a moon means it is nighttime. Daytime begins at 6 A.M. and nighttime begins at 6 P.M.
In-game days always start and end at 6 A.M.
Time Manipulation
Each hour is approximately one hour and twenty seconds. However, once you have the ocarina, you can change certain aspects of time by playing different variations of the Song of Time. The variations of the Song of Time are as follows:
| Song | Notes | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Song of Time |   
|
Returns you back to the Dawn of the First Day. |
| Inverted Song of Time |
|
Slows time down, or returns time to normal flow if already slow. |
| Song of Double Time |
|
Sends you forward in time half a day. |
If you return to the dawn of the first day, your progress will be saved and all side quests and dungeon completions will be reset. The Song of Double time has the same effect that dancing with the scarecrow has. It can be useful if a certain aspect of a side quest only occurs at a certain time of day.
What is Saved and Lost in Time?
The Song of Time, however, can't save everything. Many things Link obtained will be lost and have to be found again.
Things that will be saved
- Any new songs that you learned
- Activated Owl Statues
- Quest items such as the Bow, Bomb Bag, and Hookshot
- Maps purchased from Tingle
- Rupees that are in the Bank
- Masks
- Boss Remains
- Dungeon Maps & Compasses
- Great Fairy's gifts
- Any progress made in the Bombers' Notebook
Things that will be lost/reset
- Ammunition (Arrows, Bombs, Bombchus, Deku Nuts, and Deku Sticks).
- Bottled items.
- People and events.
- High scores.
- Rupees in your pocket.
- Opened chests (usually prizes are restocked, or else they contain five rupees).
- Stray fairies.
- Dungeons, including puzzles and the boss.
- Small Keys and the Boss Key.
Interrupted Save Feature
If you need to take a break but don't want to play the Song of Time and have to do it all over again, then find one of the Owl Statues that are located in certain places all over Termina. To activate one, simply slash it with your sword. After you have activated it, you will be able to save the game at that point. The save feature allows you to save all progress up to the point and quit the game. However, if you load up the save file, then turn off the power, the save file will not be there. When you later learn the Song of Soaring, these statues will serve as warp points.